The present invention relates to solid components which have an improved impact resistancy and/or a reduced dusting.
In various technical applications or in various products, materials are used which can sensitise the skin, eyes or respiratory system upon contact. For example powdered materials such as enzymes may come into contact with the skin or eyes or may even be inhaled during handling, in particular when in the form of very fine powder or dust, causing thereby irritation and even more severe health problems. Also reactive powdered materials such as bleach may react with the skin or eyes and cause irritation. Furthermore, various products contain materials which whilst they do not sensitise or irritate the skin, eyes or respiratory system in their normal form, may cause these problems when in the form of very finely divided powder or dust.
Thus when handling these materials, strict precautions need to be taken and special hygiene systems need to be in place to control the exposure to these materials. Nowadays, all manufacturers of products comprising for example enzymes have such systems in place. This not only results in an increased cost of using these materials, but it also reduces the ease of handling and processing these materials and moreover limits the amounts of these materials which can be used.
The inventors have now found a way to reduce the risk of exposure to these sensitising or finely divided or dusting materials. They have found that when the materials are bound by and/or coated with a specific polymeric component, the resulting slid component is more impact resistant.
It is well-known to encapsulate for example enzymes with a coating agent or even layers of coating agent, to protect the enzymes from reacting with other materials. This has as a disadvantage that the encapsulated enzyme granules contain only a limited amount of active enzyme. Furthermore, the inventors have found that these encapsulated enzymes still form dust during handling and are thus also sensitising upon exposure.
The inventors have however found that the incorporation of specific polymer materials improves the impact resistancy of the components containing these materials. This reduces the formation of very fine powder or dust during handling and thus the exposure of the skin, eyes and respiratory system to the material. This not only allows a limitation of the hygiene systems which needs to be in place, thereby reducing the cost and the complexity of handling, but it also allows the use of higher amounts of these materials. Furthermore, these polymers are very effective and only small amounts need to be used, thus high active components can be obtained.
The invention provides a solid component comprising a finely divided component and a polymeric component present as a binder and/or a coating, whereby the solid component has a Stressed Heubach Index of less than 1000, as set out herein. Preferably, the solid component has a Stressed Heubach index of less than 500 or even less than 300 or more preferably less than 200 or even 100.
The invention also provides a solid detergent component comprising an enzyme or a bleaching component or mixtures thereof, and an impact modifier, preferably having a Stressed Heubach Index of less than 1000. The impact modifier preferably comprises said polymeric component.
The invention also relates to the use of a polymeric component, preferably comprising at least two polymeric compounds, preferably a core-shell polymeric component, in a solid component containing a finely divided component, to improve the impact resistancy of the solid component.
The solid component may preferably be part of a detergent composition, preferably the composition is in the form of a detergent granule, tablet or bar.